- Our pick of the best TVs around today

- Brilliant 4K and HDR options for you to choose from

What's the best TV to buy and which is the best-suited TV to your needs? We'll answer that right here, plus more besides. All of the TVs here are rated four or five stars in Pocket-lint's independent reviews. Check out our reviews policy.

4K Ultra HD is now for everybody. The content is readily available, making your TV viewing better than ever before.

There's a huge amount of choice and plenty of confusion: you'll see UHD, Ultra HD and 4K all used to describe this new level of detail that TVs can offer, as well as talk about HDR (high dynamic range) including the different specifications of it such as HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision - just to make things more confusing.

Our pick of the best TVs available to buy today

LG OLED C8

LG is one of the dominant forces at the high end of the TV market and this set is an incredible and comprehensively-featured OLED TV.

Building on last year's B7 and C7 models, the C8 ups the ante with even better picture, sound and features (Dolby Atmos plus every version of HDR is supported, for example). We also love LG's WebOS-based smart TV platform.

It's true that Samsung's QLED range is brighter and so is capable of better HDR but LG's OLED panels means a better experience overall thanks to deeper blacks.

Philips 803 OLED TV

With no Dolby Vision, lack of catch-up TV options and only two full-spec HDMI ports, you'd be forgiven for thinking we've overrated this TV. But it's a strong contender because of the sub-£2,000 price point and general feature set. It really is the aforementioned lack of Dolby Vision that means it has to come behind LG's C8 OLED in this list.

This set also boasts the super Philips Ambilight, still a unique feature. It also features superb SDR-to-HDR image processing, supreme colour (our reviwer particularly liked the way it rendered skin tones) and plenty of contrast.

Samsung Q9FN

While Samsung continues to plough the QLED furrow, others have put their eggs firmly in the OLED basket. So what makes Samsung so convinced that QLED can be a successful alternative? Well for one thing, the HDR picture quality on display here is incredible thanks to a slight change to a direct-lit screen which, in combination with outstanding local dimming tech makes Samsung's Quantum Dot tech achive its full potential.

And then there's the name; Samsung has a great reputation when it comes to TV and the package on offer here is pretty compelling, available in 55, 65 and 75-inch versions.

Many will prefer to opt for OLED, especially if the way standard dynamic range (SDR) content looks is of more interest than HDR. And then there's the lack of Dolby Vision, too. But there's no doubting this is a serious contender.

Panasonic FZ802 OLED TV

We think it'd be difficult to find a better OLED TV for the money - this is a super addition to the Panasonic line-up. It adds some excellent new features but manages to keep a competitive price point.

While the LG C8 looks flashier, it's more expensive. Most impressive is the way Panasonic's Studio Colour HXC processor delivers beautifully defined colours and plenty of detail in darker areas.

The only disadvantage with this TV is the lack of Dolby Vision support.

Hisense U9A

The brightest TV ever is a top pick because of its competitive feature set and price - Hisense has certainly been a breath of fresh air since it entered the UK market.

The H75U9A even claims local dimming across a stunning 1056 separate zones - more than twice as many as in even Samsung's stunning Q9FN flagship TV. But ultimately, the U9A falls a little short on a few things, not least the comprehensive competition available. Also colours look a little washed out when viewing HDR content while the smart TV interface needs work, too.

Sony XF9005

A cocktail of improvements over its predecessor, the XF is a stunning TV that - thanks to direct LED lighting with local dimming means there's bags of contrast that's just perfect for HDR. And crucially this line-up improves on the excellent Sony XE90 TV.

It's also great value for money although there are a couple of negatives - we spotted some light blooming around a few bright objects while the Android-based smart TV interface isn't a patch on, say, LG's WebOS-based system even though you do get YouView. And we didn't like the large angular support stands even though they joyfully enable you to hide your cables.

TV jargon buster

One of the confusing things about televisions is the jargon that goes along with them. Here's a very brief run-down of the important things to look out for:

HDR - high dynamic range, to bring the latest colour and contrast, also called HDR10.Dolby Vision - an alternative form of HDR, promising a more enhanced HDR experience.Ultra HD/UHD/4K - the 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution.OLED - Organic LED, where the light is emitted from each pixel, meaning deep blacks, vibrant colours and amazingly thin designs.QLED - Samsung's latest quantum dot display, LED based and not to be confused with OLED.Direct LED - where the illumination source is directly behind the display, meaning deep blacks, but thicker designs.Edge LED - where the illumination source is in the edges and channeled across the rear of the display, result in thin designs, but with out the illumination control of direct LED or OLED panels.

OLED or LED?

This is the biggest battle in televisions right now and it's here that you'll have to make the biggest decision. What display technology are you after? Here's the current state of play:

OLED produces the light from each pixel rather than having illumination from the sides or rear like LED. This means that OLED can achieve better absolute black, because you just turn off that pixel's illumination. Having greater contrast and better viewing angles often leads to richer colours and greater accuracy, but the brightness levels aren't as high. OLED can often look better, but isn't as dramatic with HDR and can sometimes struggle with definition between absolute black and just above absolute black. However, OLED panels can be really thin, presenting great design opportunities.

LED is brighter than OLED, with some TVs outputting close to 2000 nits. The real difference this makes is that it can really boost colour and it and super-charge HDR performance, by making those bright whites even brighter - while also cutting through reflections in bright rooms. It's also a cheaper technology than OLED so LED sets are often cheaper overall (but there are exceptions). LED TVs may be direct or edge lit, but the illumination needs to be distributed behind the panel and controlled in segments or zones. Direct will normally be the most capable, while some cheaper TVs may only be lit from one side, some from two sides. QLED from Samsung is a form of LED.

To help you cut through this puzzle, we've split LED and OLED into separate sections below. After that, you need to make the call.